This concise yet comprehensive textbook examines political, social, and cultural developments in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet period. It begins by identifying the social tensions and political inconsistencies that spurred radical change in Russia's government, from the turn of the century to the revolution of 1917. Peter Kenez presents this revolution as a crisis of authority that the creation of the Soviet Union resolved. The text traces the progress of the Soviet Union through the 1920s, the years of the New Economic Policies, and into the Stalinist order. It illustrates how post-Stalin Soviet leaders struggled to find ways to rule the country without using Stalin's methods - but also without openly repudiating the past - and to negotiate a peaceful but antipathetic coexistence with the capitalist West. This updated third edition includes substantial new material, discussing the challenges Russia currently faces in the era of Putin.

Includes an examination of the post-Soviet period, tracing Russia's development up to the present day

Illustrates the full span of Soviet society and history in the context of Russian history

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Author

Peter Kenez, University of California, Santa CruzPeter Kenez is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Coming of the Holocaust: From Antisemitism to Genocide (Cambridge, 2013) and Hungary from the Nazis to the Soviets: The Establishment of the Communist Regime in Hungary, 1944–1948 (Cambridge, 2006).

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